THE ATKINS TREATMENT

By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer

State Rep. John C. Atkins got a courtesy not afforded
to every standard issue domestic-violence offender -- a
private session with the attorney general to ensure he
had been treated fairly and to sound out what would be
expected of him on probation.

Atkins, a Millsboro Republican, already had been
through the Family Court and placed in the First
Offender Domestic Violence Diversion Program -- meaning
that his record would be cleansed of an offensive
touching charge if he stayed out of trouble for a year
-- three days earlier on Dec. 4.

The meeting followed on Dec. 7 with Carl C. Danberg
in the Attorney General's Office in Dover, as Atkins was
moving from the criminal justice system to the probation
system, and what a coincidence, Danberg was, too.

Danberg, a Democrat, was on his way from being
attorney general atop the criminal justice system to
being nominated as the corrections commissioner atop the
probation system.

At the time of the meeting, the retirement of
Corrections Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor Jr. had been
announced, and Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner was
widely expected to choose Danberg as the replacement --
as she did on Jan. 3. It was the second time Minner
turned to Danberg in a little more than a year, after
tapping him for attorney general when Republican M. Jane
Brady departed for a judgeship.

Danberg said he was the one asking for the session
with Atkins. He said he wanted feedback to ascertain
that Atkins had been treated neither too harshly nor too
leniently but "like any other citizen."

Danberg noted that he has met with other defendants
after they had their day in court. Any one of them could
have been a legislator who chaired the House Corrections
Committee in his last term and whose wife Heather worked
for the Corrections Department.

Atkins did his part, too, to show how much he wanted
to be treated "like any other citizen." He brought along
John R. Matlusky, the Republican national committeeman
who is also the House Republicans' chief aide, and John
F. Brady, the Republican Sussex County recorder of deeds
who also doubles as a House attorney and was retained
privately as Atkins' lawyer.

It was similar to Atkins' determination to be treated
"like any other citizen" in the hours before he was
arrested by Millsboro police for fighting with his wife.
During a traffic stop in Ocean City, Md., he displayed
his legislative identification card and suggested he
could have a Delaware state trooper pick him up if he
had too much to drink at a pre-Halloween party at a
nightclub. He left without a speeding ticket or a
drunken-driving charge.

Atkins would not talk about the meeting, but Danberg,
Matlusky and Brady, who was late showing up for it, did.
They all acknowledged that Atkins' probation was
discussed, because he did not want his compliance with
counseling sessions to take him away from his
legislative responsibilities. Danberg said he was not
asked to do anything improper, and anyway, he had
limited input.

"It wasn't about looking for any shortcuts or special
privileges," Matlusky said.

Up until now, Atkins has been a problem for the House
of Representatives, but now it could spill over to the
Senate, where Cabinet nominees like Danberg must be
confirmed.

"Anything is eligible to be asked of a nominee," said
Sen. Anthony J. DeLuca, the Democratic majority leader.

Any questions seem more likely to come from the
Senate's minority Republicans than the majority
Democrats, who control the chamber 13-8 -- enough to
confirm the governor's nominees with votes to spare.

Sen. Charles L. Copeland, the Republican minority
leader, said, "I had a lot of questions for General
Danberg because he was there [in the Corrections
Department] while a lot of problems in the prison were
fomenting. This certainly adds another question."

Sen. Thurman G. Adams Jr., the Democratic president
pro tem, said, "Personally I think it's a House issue
and not a Senate issue. Carl, being nominated as
corrections commissioner, he's going to be in another
capacity. I'm not sure that's an issue with us."

Atkins made his return Tuesday to Dover for the first
day of the new legislative session. He stood in the
middle of the 41-member House, jammed with family,
friends and political officials, to take his new oath
along with everybody else. Heather Atkins was with him.

Committee assignments were not announced, so there
was no word on whether Atkins would lose the chair of
the Corrections Committee, with its jurisdiction
involving the next commissioner, probation and Heather
Atkins' job.

If he does, it would be one time that Atkins got a
special treatment that did not go his way.